Acute and chronic effects of parathion and 2,4 D on the oxygen consumption of Chasmagnathus granulata (Decapoda, Brachyura).

The effect of two pesticides widely used in Argentina on the oxygen consumption of the estuarine crab Chasmagnathus granulata was studied. Constant pressure respirometers were employed to estimate the rate of oxygen consumption per weight unit of animals treated previously with each pesticide, both acute (96 h) and chronically (15 and 30 days). Crabs exposed to parathion -an organophosphorate insecticide that causes the inhibition of acetylcholinesterase- show an increase of oxygen consumption at 0.5 ppm under acute exposure, and at 10 ppb under a chronic one. On the other hand, crabs exposed to 2,4 D (an herbicide) did not show changes in their consumption after an acute exposure, but those exposed chronically did show an increase at low concentration (5 ppm) followed by a relative decrease at the highest concentration (50 ppm). The results obtained for parathion are in accordance with the abnormal cholinergic excitation that it may exert on crustacean nervous system. The effect of 2,4 D was consistent with its uncoupler action at respiratory chain level, at low concentrations, while a possible Krebs cycle enzymes inhibition might be occurring at higher concentrations of that pesticide, as in other crustacean species. The faster action of parathion, respect to 2,4 D, is explained by its neurotoxic nature.